Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11)

by Lexi Blake

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He might never take his eyes off her again. His cock jumped back to life. Months had passed. Months where he’d been hit on by several lovely women and not a one of them moved him. No one touched his soul the way Mia did, and Case had rapidly discovered that his cock definitely followed where his soul went. No pretty face or hot body could compare to Mia. Those other women didn’t glow the way she did, didn’t light up a room or make his heart do weird, fluttery things that he was never going to admit to. Never. Except maybe to his brother when he’d had too much Scotch.

  Ian had told him to suck it up on the girly love stuff, poured him another drink, and then very quietly admitted he felt the same way about Charlotte and if Case ever said a damn thing to her, Ian would beat the shit out of him.

  Then they’d talked about the Cowboys.

  That was the Taggart way.

  And so was this. He reached out and hauled her up. She was easy to move, all trussed up. A gorgeous, sexy piece of baggage. Mia had chosen to offer herself up like this. He would take it. They could work through their issues while finding the connection that had been missing for months. He’d missed touching her, missed tasting and loving her. And he’d definitely missed spanking her.

  She gasped a little as he twisted her and managed to maneuver her so she was over his lap, the offensive panties in his line of sight. Those had to go.

  He reached out and touched the curve of her hip, sighing at the contact. Finally he could touch her, feel the warmth of her skin under his. “I’ve been leaving you messages for months. Why today?”

  Was it because of Theo? He would be all right with that. She loved adventure and she’d been a part of finding him the first time. Hell, she was why they’d found him the first time. She could come along but she needed to understand this relationship wasn’t ending the minute the op did. None of that fucking-until-the-op-was-over bullshit for him. This was forever.

  Mia wiggled on his lap, but she didn’t complain. “I might have been stubborn and might have switched phones and not listened to any of your messages until today. The minute I did, I was here. Case, I’m so sorry I got rid of that phone because I didn’t want you to be able to reach me. I knew the minute I heard your voice that I would come back to you. Please touch me, Sir.”

  Hearing her call him Sir made him long for more. He knew he likely didn’t deserve it, but one day she would call him Master and more than that, she would call him husband. He let his hand trace over the curves of her ass. So round and perfect, and made for his hand and his cock. This was exactly what he needed. He needed to be her Dom again, needed his strong, gorgeous sub here in his arms. She could knock him on his ass outside the bedroom. It was her job when he was a dumbass. She was going to be his woman, his better half. But here in the bedroom, he needed her sweet submission. He let his hand slide under the seam of those awful undies. “It’s all right. I needed the time to sort a few things through. I needed to be better for you. But Mia, just because I’m working on my temper doesn’t mean I can’t lose it again.”

  She held on to him. “I wasn’t angry that you lost your temper. I knew you would be mad at me for what I did. It was how cold you got.”

  He didn’t remember feeling cold at all. Never about her. He definitely wasn’t feeling a chill now. He began to draw the panties over her hips, exposing her gorgeous skin. “I was never cold. Not about you. I made a massive mistake, but you’re the one who walked away. I never intended for those to be the last words we said to each other. Not once. Even when I was angry as hell at you, I knew I wouldn’t let you go.”

  “I didn’t see how you could possibly love me when you thought those things about me,” she said quietly.

  “And I didn’t think you could possibly love me at all. I was angry. With you. With me. With Theo. With Ian for letting Theo go. I was angry about everything. But I wasn’t stupid. I wouldn’t have let you go. My every intention was to send you home so you could think about what you’d done. I was treating you like a child instead of letting you be my partner. I need to know if you can forgive me, Mia.” If she couldn’t, he would keep on trying until he changed her mind. Nothing was more important than winning her back, than being the man she needed him to be.

  “Only if you’ll forgive me for walking away,” she replied.

  That’s what he’d needed to hear. They spent so much time fighting or fucking that they’d forgotten how to look at each other and be real. “I do, but never again, princess. Even if I fuck up, I need to know you’ll stay and knock some sense into my thick skull. I suspect my sisters-in-law will help you learn how to be a Taggart wife. It’s not always easy.”

  “Wife?”

  Shit. Maybe that had been too fast. Still. He wasn’t backing down. “I want to marry you. I’m not going to pretend like I don’t. And honestly, I’ve got you tied up. If you say no, I could just leave you like this until you say yes.”

  “Don’t you dare. You’ve got maybe fifteen minutes tops before I start complaining. And yes. But you had better spank me now. It’s been so long. I need it, Case. I need to cry and I need to feel close to you so spank me.”

  Yes? She’d said yes? “Are you sure? Because I don’t want you to think I’m punishing you. We need to make that clear. This is for fun and to give you what you need.”

  “Please. And make it dirty. I’ve missed this so much. And maybe you should punish me,” she said in that voice that let him know she would get what she wanted one way or another. It was that sexy, taunting, sultry voice she used on him when she wanted to push him, wanted him to push her. “After all, I punished you for months. I knew you were working for my brothers. I knew you would come with us to New York, but I wouldn’t see you. I wasn’t going to give you the satisfaction of seeing me.”

  Yes, she seemed determined to push him. “Are you sure? I could untie you and make love to you and we could be gentle with each other.”

  “That’s not who we are, Case. I realize that now. I should have stayed and fought it out with you. I can do that. I can take everything you have to give me, even the anger, if I know you love me. I love you. I’ve loved you since the moment you walked in the room and my world shifted because I’d finally found a man I didn’t have to hold back with. I want everything. I want your passion and your love, and I definitely want your dominance.”

  He could give it to her. His cock was so hard it was painful, but it could wait. His sexuality had become tied to play and he needed it more than he needed to be inside her. He needed to give her what she required to be happy, what only he could give her.

  He left her panties tangled in her legs, holding her thighs together. “You thought you could keep me away from this? Away from your body? It belongs to me, Mia. Only to me. I’ll teach you never to think to keep us apart again.”

  The words were for play, to heighten the sensation, but the underlying meaning was there.

  I need you. I can’t be whole without you. Don’t ever leave me again.

  He brought his hand down, smacking her ass hard once, twice, and then again. He got to five, her flesh already pink, before he stopped to let her breathe.

  Mia squirmed, though it was obvious she wasn’t trying to get away. Her fingers had laced together, squeezing tight. “I was so mad at you, so hurt. I couldn’t see past it, Sir. I’m so sorry. I wasted so much time.”

  He wasn’t sure it had been wasted. They’d worked through some things they’d needed to work through. She’d written and found her footing back in that world again and he’d been forced to face what life without her would truly be like.

  Did Ian love Charlotte more because he’d lost her? Had that made finding her again all the sweeter? Did Sean understand the depths of his love for Grace because she’d nearly died once?

  Losing Theo had made Erin understand how hollow the world was without him.

  He spanked her again because Mia was never satisfied with a couple of smacks. She needed more. He let himself go. Six th
rough ten were quick, but he slowed and took his time getting to twenty, letting his hand hold the heat against her skin. “Nothing was wasted. What did you call it? This is our story and it played out the way it needed to. You needed to be free for a while longer. I needed to miss you. I needed to figure out you’re not someone I play with and then put up so you can’t get broken.” Another smack, this one on her left cheek. “You’re my partner. I need you in my life. I need you by my side. Even when it gets dangerous.”

  She was precious to him, but keeping her in a box would kill her. He wanted Mia just the way she was.

  Another set of smacks and he could hear her. She was crying, but that wasn’t a bad thing. Hell, he was starting to think he might cry, too. Mia wasn’t crying because she was sad. She cried because she felt so fucking much and couldn’t let it out until it was safe. He gave her a place to release that storm of emotion.

  He was her safety and he would never let her down again. He kept it up, but more to keep their connection going now. He smacked her pretty ass, held his hand against her and told her over and over again how much he’d missed her. How much he loved her. How nothing had been real without her.

  Gradually her body stilled and she seemed to relax against him. “Thank you. It’s been so long. I haven’t…”

  He breathed in the sweet smell of her arousal. The spanking had done more than allow her to cry. It had brought out all of Mia’s deep emotions. Her love and her lust. He craved them both. He tugged the panties all the way down and gently parted her legs so he could brush her core, feel the arousal there. “Haven’t what, princess? Haven’t cried? Haven’t come?”

  Her body tensed slightly and then her hips tilted up, giving him access. “Haven’t cried. I didn’t even cry when I left. I couldn’t. If I’d started I wouldn’t have been able to stop.”

  Such a beautiful ass. He couldn’t take his eyes off it. Her cheeks were a deep pink. He shifted her so he could see her pussy peeking from between her legs. Her pussy was a deep coral, glistening with arousal. He knew just what he wanted to do with all that cream. “I think the rest of this conversation is best done on the bed.”

  She shuddered and sighed. “I agree. I want to hold you, Case.”

  He was sure she did. The trouble was, he’d caught the part of his question she hadn’t answered. “Eventually. For now I’m going to play because I haven’t played with anyone in six months, but I don’t think you can say the same. Can you?”

  She hadn’t replied about not coming.

  He easily lifted her and tossed her on his bed. Where she fucking belonged. Her eyes had gone wide, as though she’d just realized the precarious nature of her situation.

  “I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

  He hadn’t thought she had. “I know that. How about masturbation?”

  Now those pretty eyes rolled. “Of course. I went out the day after we broke up and bought a big old Hitachi wand and named it Ike. That sucker is so powerful it requires a plug. But I thought about you every time I used it.”

  That’s what he suspected. Mia liked her toys. Unfortunately, he’d banned her from using them. “I think you require a plug.”

  Her face went as pink as her backside. “Case, you can’t punish me for masturbating. It’s not like you didn’t…please tell me you did.”

  “Not even once, even though I was desperate to. I told you. I belong to you so that rule applied to me, too.” It hadn’t hurt that he’d been so tired most days from training her brothers and then sitting up with a newborn that he couldn’t have worked up the will to yank his own dick, but he wasn’t going to point it out to her. She’d been wandering the globe in first class with a giant vibrating wand and he’d been mourning her, taking her brothers’ shit and getting covered in baby spit up. And when he could have pleasured himself all he could think about was Mia and the fact that sex was now meaningless without her. She hadn’t felt the same way. He could totally forgive her, but he was going to have fun tonight. “Flip over and put that pretty ass in the air because you’re getting plugged tonight.”

  “I can’t believe you didn’t touch yourself.” Her breasts were up-thrust, nipples peaked. “How is that possible? Every time I thought about you, I couldn’t help myself.”

  He leaned over, brushing his fingertips against her nipples. “And every time I thought of you I remembered what I owe you. My everything. Every touch, emotion, pleasure belongs to you. My heart, my soul, my cock. Everything I am is yours so it was fairly simple to not give myself any pleasure that didn’t come from you.”

  Mia took a deep breath and then swung her legs, turning herself over and drawing her knees up. She placed herself in a deeply submissive position, her ass in the air, arms tied behind her back. Mia’s cheek was against the quilt, her eyes soft. “All right.”

  He couldn’t even explain what that trust did for him. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that. When you talk to me like that, you’re pretty much going to get anything you want.” She wriggled her ass. “Do your worst, Sir.”

  His worst was going to bring her so much pleasure. And so much for him. He dragged his shirt over his head, unable to stay clothed around her. They didn’t need clothes. He needed to be naked, his flesh against hers, his hands touching and manipulating her until neither one could stand it any longer and they had to fuck.

  “Don’t move.” He strode to his closet. He might not have much by way of décor in his place, but he had a nice kit that he’d put together for Mia. He was an optimist at heart. He wouldn’t have thought it, but a few months back he’d purchased new toys. The idea of using anything on her he’d used on someone else seemed wrong. He’d bought a very nice plug for her ass. A whole set, but he selected a moderately sized one and a water-based lube. He cleaned the plug and then moved back to his bed where Mia was waiting for him, her face close to the edge of the mattress. He knelt down. “What’s your safe word?”

  Her lips curled up. “Case. It’s always Case, but for these purposes it’s coffee. I love you.”

  God, it was good to hear those words from her. He kissed her lightly. “I love you, too. And, princess, this is going to be fun.”

  He moved behind her and spread her even wider, loving how she was held for his pleasure. He could see her tiny asshole. He was going to open her, make her ready for his dick. He would take her in every way possible, give himself to her.

  One day he would make a baby with her. They would give TJ and Carys and Kala and Kenzi more cousins because she would be his wife.

  And his wife was definitely going to need a nice plugging every now and then. “You’ve been a very bad girl. Do you understand what you did wrong?”

  “Yes. I touched my Master’s plaything. I belong to my Master and only he can give me an orgasm. My Master is faithful. Even when we’re not together.”

  It was only play. She would enjoy the plug and eventually she would love his cock diving deep, but the undercurrent meant something. And hearing her call him Master made his heart twist in a good way. “We’re always together. Even when we’re not. At least in my mind. I won’t love you until the day you die. I’ll love you until I go. I’ll love you far beyond. I’ll love you forever, Mia.”

  Tears squeezed from her eyes. Tears she didn’t need pain to shed. “Back at you. You should know that I won’t leave you again, Taggart. Not without a fight.”

  They would fight. It was inevitable. They were too passionate, but they would be comfortable that they would be together at the end.

  He spread her cheeks and dribbled the lube between them. “Not without a fight. I won’t ever let you go again. We needed the time apart, but now it’s time for us to be together, to be a family. I’m going to be with you in every way possible.”

  Starting now. He let his fingers move between the cheeks of her ass. The little rosette was sweetly puckered and tight. So tight. He intended to fix that. He massaged lube into her flesh, circling her over and over. Mia’s spine straightened, her b
ody tensing as his finger dipped inside.

  “Relax,” he ordered. “I’m not going to let you keep me out. This ass is mine. I’m going to take it.”

  He rimmed her, his finger opening her bit by bit. He meant to make her very aware of him tonight. Tomorrow they would go to Africa together, go into danger together, but tonight was just for them. It was their time to reconnect.

  It was his time to get what he needed.

  Mia groaned, her body shuddering as he pressed his finger inside. The sight of her little asshole tightening around his finger caused his dick to jump in his jeans. They were getting cumbersome, but he continued to work her over.

  When he was ready, he used the wipes from his kit to clean up and then grabbed the plug. It was smaller than he was, but they would have to work her up to taking him.

  Mia shuddered as he placed the tip against her. “It’s cold.”

  “Not for long,” he promised. “I wouldn’t ever leave you cold for long. Relax. Take a deep breath and let me in. You want to play with toys, then we’ll play.”

  “I might have thought twice about that wand if I’d known you were going to shove a massive piece of plastic up my ass,” she admitted.

  “This was always going to happen.” He fucked her with the plug, gently opening her up until he could slide it fully inside. “I was always going to play with you like this. I don’t want any barriers between us. Nothing is forbidden as long as it brings us both pleasure.”

  “I’m not sure how much I like this yet, but I love being open to you. I love the fact that I can fantasize about anything with you.”

  Because he was safe. It was a good thing to be. He seated the plug deep. “Tell me how it feels.”

  “Full,” she said, her voice deep. “Odd, but it doesn’t hurt. I don’t mind it so much now, but I’m getting achy, Case. I need you.”